Brison says Liberals would workwith provinces on securities watchdog

A Liberal government, like the Harper government, would work to establish a national securities regulator, the party’s finance critic indicated Thursday.

But unlike the Conservative government, it would work with the provinces to do so and would not go ahead without their approval, Liberal MP Scott Brison said in an interview.

“We would work with — and would consult with — the provinces and listen to the provinces, but would not impose something on the provinces,” Liberal MP Scott Brison said in an interview when asked if the Liberals support the idea of a national securities regulator. “In a true national regulator the provinces would be an equal partner.”

The recent drop in provincial support for the government’s bill to create a national regulator to replace 13 provincial and territorial regulators is evidence of the Harper administration’s failure to fully and fairly engage the provinces in the discussions, Brison said.

The legislation, which now only has the full support of Ontario, faces court challenges in two provinces and is to be reviewed by the Supreme Court of Canada this spring as to whether it is an intrusion into provincial jurisdiction.

The provinces fear this will be a federal regulator, Brison said.

Even more important, however, is that failure to get provincial support bodes ill for the Conservative government’s ability to negotiate a health care agreement when the current health care commitment ends in just three years, Brison said.

“The discussions over a national securities regulator pale in comparison of importance to the country,” Brison said.

With the federal and provincial governments struggling with deficits, and with health care costs rising sharply, the government should already be in discussions about a new health care deal with the provinces, he said.

Instead, the government is making costly spending commitments, such as its controversial crime legislation, which will leave the federal and provincial governments with less money for health care, Brison said.

Earlier this week, the Parliamentary Budget Office warned that just the crime legislation alone will cost the federal government $5 billion over the coming five years, or roughly double what the government estimates, and that it will cost the provinces at least that much as well.

“If you ask Canadians what their real priorities are in those terms, I think most will say keep the health care system strong,” Brison said.

“Leading up to the 2014 deadline, the health care talks are going to be very difficult and I don’t understand why the federal government isn’t already engaged in those discussions at the highest level,” Brison said, suggesting that Harper should meet with the premiers to start dealing with that issue.

“The failure of the government to engage the provinces meaningfully will prove costly for Canadians,” he said.